You're (Not) Running Away Again
by percico-feels
Summary: Nico is running away from camp again... but Percy will try to stop him by any cost this time. One-Shot. Slash.


**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does. And I'm not getting any money by writing this.**

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**You're (Not) Running Away Again**

_by Julie Anna Tennant_

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The front door of Cabin 3 slammed open suddenly, while Percy run out the place and crossed Camp Half Blood fields in a hurry. The other campers tried to ask him what was going on, where was he going, but Percy ignored all of them. He needed to find Nico; Jason could not be right, could not be serious.

Percy ran through camp, until he reached the hill where Thalia's tree stood. Peleu was happily napping near it, guarding the Golden Fleece as always. The dragon, however, was not alone. From his place on the hill, Percy could see Nico playing with Mrs. O'Leary and that view calmed him down a little; at least he was not that late.

"Nico!" he called out loud, while running down the hill.

His lungs burned thanks to the non-stop running and irregular breathing, but Percy ignored that detail too. Getting to Nico was more important than anything right now.

Nico, who was sitting on a tree trunk, petting the Hellhound, looked at Percy abruptly; the expression on his face was unreadable for everyone who tried. He stopped caressing Mrs. O'Leary and was already getting to his feet when Percy reached him.

"What do you want, Percy?" Nico asked, on his usual impatient tone.

Percy needed a few minutes to catch his breath again, before answering anything. And while recovering, his eyes found the backpack that lied on the ground next to Nico's feet. That caught his attention immediately. For Poseidon's beard, Jason had told him the truth.

"Why are you leaving?" the son of Poseidon inquired alarmed "You can't just go away, this doesn't make any sense. Your home is here, you can't leave us. Why are you leaving?"

The demigod talked so fast, that it took Nico some seconds to understand what the hell he was talking about. But when he finally did, a tremendous anger boiled inside of him and his usually pale face got all flushed.

"I'm going to kill Jason" the son of Hades growled, more to himself than to the other demigod.

And in a quick and unexpected move, he stood up, picking up his backpack on the ground and shoving it over his shoulders. Percy felt a pang of panic setting on his stomach. He gave up any caution and just grabbed Nico's arm, before the other boy could shadow travel. The Italian gave him a hard, cold look. Any other demigod, with the least of common sense, would have let Nico go, but not Percy. Percy was just too stubborn and persistent to let go.

"Why are you leaving?" he asked again anxiously.

Nico pulled his arm violently out of Percy's grip, straightening the backpack on his shoulders.

"This is none of your business" he said coldly "Now just get the fuck out of here and leave me alone."

Giving no chances for arguing, Nico turned his back and walked away, down the hill. Mrs, O'Leary followed happily beside him.

"COWARD!"

The yell escaped Percy's lips before he could contain it and echoed through half-blood hill in a cacophony. Nico stuck on his place immediately, his whole body stiffening. And when the younger demigod turned on his heel to face him, Percy realized the terrible choice he had made. The expression on Nico's face was not just angry, it was murderous; his dark almond eyes glistened with something near hate.

Mrs. O'Leary barked, trying to call Nico's attention, but ended up sitting obediently and quiet when the boy cast the Hellhound a warning look.

"What did you just say?" Nico asked.

And his voice was so terribly calm that Percy felt his stomach freezing. The damage was done, though, and he couldn't take it back anymore.

"You're a coward" he answered, showing a confidence he knew quite well he did not feel "You're running away shamelessly and this is something only cowards do."

Nico lip's curled in a mockingly smile as he took some steps back next to the son of Poseidon, stopping just a few meters away from him.

"And from what exactly would I be running away?" he asked.

That smooth voice was unnerving, especially when Percy could clearly see Nico's fury reflected on those deep dark orbs. It would be so much better if he just lashed out, shouting and shit. Anything was better than that fake sense of calmness and safety.

"From your friends, from a nice life here on camp" the green eyed boy answered, a bit harsher than he intended "You're so used to being miserable that the idea that here you can have a good life, with friends who really love you, scares the shit out of you."

"You know nothing, Jackson" it was Nico's response and any trace of tranquility was gone from his voice "You don't know me."

And that was the truth. Percy didn't know Nico for real. They had face two wars together, fight countless battles side by side and Percy was aware of how powerful the son of Hades was, but what else? What did he like to do on his spare time? His greatest fears? The kind of music he liked the most? Did Nico prefer dogs or cats? Those were simple questions that any friend would be able to answer, but to Percy's despair he realized he knew none of the answers.

But in his defense, Percy did tried to get closer to Nico many times. For a while, after the Giant War, the son of Poseidon thought that the two of them could finally be friends. Bianca's death, however, seemed to still hang between them as an invisible barrier, blocking away any chance for a true friendship. Now, Nico was leaving for gods know how long and that simple idea made Percy sick.

"This is not my fault" he snorted quickly "_You_ don't let anyone get close to you."

Silence. That was Nico's answer to Percy's accusation. Silence and such a cold glance, that could freeze hell itself.

"Come on, Mrs. O'Leary, it's time to go" the younger called and the Hellhound made its way to him.

Percy followed them in a hurry, getting as closer as his instincts of self-preservation (which were not _that_ much) allowed him to.

"That's right, ignore me" he snapped out angrily "Just run away again. Bianca would be ashamed if she could see the coward you turned into."

The punch came out of nowhere right into his face and even if Percy was expecting it, he could not have deflected it; Nico had moved too fast.

The son of Poseidon staggered, losing his balance due to the force of Nico's punch, and soon he could taste blood on his tongue.

"Don't you dare talking about Bianca" Nico yelled incredibly loud.

Grief was plastered all over his face and his hands were trembling with anger; it was visible that Nico was having a hard time trying not to beat the other demigod again. Bianca's always been his weak spot and Percy knew it. He felt bad for using such a low trick, but he needed time. Maybe he could convince Nico to stay, but first he had to make Nico talk to him.

Percy straightened his body, whipping off the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Then stop acting like a frightened child" he said firmly "Face whatever is bothering you so much. Be a man."

_Hard breathing._

"Shut up!" Nico shout.

_Yellowish grass slowly sprawling over the hill._

"No, I won't shut up, you know I'm right. Running away was always how you solved your problems and it's what you're about to do again. Running away like a small spoiled frightened child."

"Shut up, shut up."

Nico shut his eyes, covering his ears with his hands; a lame attempt to muffle the sound of Percy's voice.

"Grow some balls and face your problems at least once in your life, di Angelo."

"Shut up!"

Cracks appeared on the ground. Mrs. O'Leary barked worried."

"Prove that you're not a coward, don't run away this time. Do something!"

Percy was quite surprised with the control Nico was showing over his temper. Percy was provoking him purposefully and still, the son of Hades was able to contain any reckless attitude… until that moment.

His dark eyes snapped open mere seconds before Nico threw himself like a mad man towards Percy. This time, Percy was able to defend himself from the attack, but Nico's weight knocked both of them down on the ground. They rolled on the grass, which at that time was already brown and dead, reflecting the son of Hades' bad humor.

Nico tried to strike him on the head, but Percy got away. He was furious, almost blind by rage, and attacked Percy with no mercy. The son of Poseidon was doing everything he could to get away from the non-stop attacks, but that was a hard task to accomplish when you're lying on the ground and your attacker is practically straddling you.

When Nico tried to hit him again and lost his balance after finding just empty space, Percy took the opportunity to stand up. He was panting and sweat trickled down his forehead. Percy could feel his own anger starting to grow on his chest. Anger and frustration.

"Beating me won't solve any of your problems" he scolded.

"No, it won't. But it will make me feel better" Nico shot back.

He wasn't kidding and Percy noticed it when the firsts skeleton warriors started to pull out from the cracks on the ground. Maybe he had crossed the line and exaggerated a little (or a lot), it was never his intention to make Nico that furious, but Percy couldn't help it. He himself was quite mad at that time and, when Nico grabbed his Stygian Iron sword, the son of Poseidon did not hesitated before picking up Riptide on his pocket.

The clash of metal against metal echoed through the hill, frightening the birds that lived on the place. The two demigods dueled, their warrior instincts taking over their actions completely.

That whole fight made no sense. Percy knew it, Nico knew it, but none of them was able to stop it. There was too much hurt between them, too much anger and too much frustration that mere words would never be enough to mend, especially because neither of them was very good with it.

The skeleton warriors came on Percy's direction, while Nico attacked him on the right side. He stopped the stroke right on time, but felt when a fleshless hand gripped his ankle. He kicked the skeleton away and jumped as far as he could.

The cramp on his stomach appeared when Percy created a hurricane of good size and sweep off all Nico's skeleton soldiers. Not that it was of much help, because for every skeleton Percy defeated, two others climbed out from the ground. He was having a fucking hard task to maintain the damn hurricane and fight against Nico at the same time.

The trees around them swayed violently with the wind. Branches fell from those trees, small animals run away from the hill (Mrs. O'Leary was nowhere to be seen) and the ground was shaking and cracking even more. And the two of them kept fighting.

For how long they faced each other, Percy couldn't tell. But he was starting to get tired. He was paying the price for keeping a hurricane to prevent those skeletons of getting to him and fighting Nico at the same time; his movements were slower already. Sweat covered his entire body and Riptide seemed heavier and harder to use.

Nico spun his sword and tried to hit Percy's shoulder. He defended it, but before he could counterattack, his feet got stuck on a crack on the ground and he fell backwards. Riptide escaped his hands and was almost two feet from his reach; the hurricane he was keeping all that time dissolved as soon as his concentration broke. Nico took the advantage and prepared new attack, to which Percy just closed his eyes and waited for the impact.

There was no impact, to Percy's surprise, and when he opened his eyes, he saw why. Jason and Leo were holding Nico on both sides, restraining his movements, while Piper and Annabeth ran straight to where Percy had fallen. How or when they had found he and Nico, Percy didn't know, but he was glad they did.

"By the gods, what did you two think you were doing?" Chiron's deep voice was heard, as the centaur trotted into their direction.

Percy got to his feet, helped by his friends, and took Riptide from where it had landed.

"Nico was running away from camp again" Percy said, putting his sword back on his pocket "I just wanted him to tell me why."

Nico struggled on the boys' grip, trying to break free.

"You jerk! You were saying shit about my sister" he accused madly "And what I do is none of your fucking business."

"Enough!" Chiron said harshly "Do any of you have an idea of the risk this silly fight brought to the camp? You are sons of the Big Three, look all the damage you did on this place."

Actually, after a brief inspection on his surroundings, Percy saw that they had indeed exaggerated. The hill was a mess of bones, broken trees and wholes on the ground. And not only Chiron and their friends were there, lots of other campers had come and were cautiously approaching them.

Percy whipped some of the sweat falling down his forehead and burned his eyes. Pain crossed his body everywhere and the boy knew that, probably, he would have a new collection of bruises soon enough.

Jason whispered something to Nico that, although still looked like on the verge of killing someone, nodded quietly. After that, Leo and Jason let go of his arms and he pulled his sword aside. His eyes searched the place briefly and, soon, he walked to where his backpack was lying on the ground and picked it up.

"I just wanted you to talk to me, Nico" Percy tried one last time, ignoring all his common sense and approaching fearlessly the other demigod "Damn it, I just wanted you to talk to me and let me help you. You don't need to run away like this."

Nico pulled the backpack on his shoulders and stared him. There was no rage on his face anymore. His almond eyes seemed opaque, lifeless, and showed so much sorrow that Percy was speechless. What was happening to that boy?

"You know what is your problem, Percy?" Nico asked hoarsely "You Always want to help, even when you can't."

If he didn't know Nico for so long (even if they weren't exactly friends), Percy could swear the guy was on the verge of crying. But that was bullshit, Nico di Angelo doesn't cry in front of people.

"Just drop it, Percy" Jason spoke, when he realized the green eyed boy was going to say something "Let Nico go."

That annoyed him a lot. Why was Jason so supportive of that nonsense? Did Nico tell him why he was leaving? Probably, because he and Jason have been acting all buddy-buddy towards each other lately, to Percy's frustration. But giving the matter some thought, all their friends seemed quite okay with Nico's decision.

"Why aren't you questioning his decision? What do you know? What's the problem?"

His sea green eyes travelled from Annabeth to Leo, to Piper and Jason, but none of them had the nerve to say anything.

"The problem here is you" Nico said bluntly.

And he was right in front of Percy, a few feet separating them.

"The problem here is you and all your unfailing courage" Nico continued "The problem is you and this habit you have of helping people, even when they don't want to be helped. The problem is you and these eyes of yours, that are exactly the colour of the sea, and that someone could spend hours just staring at. The problem is that you're so unique and so fascinating that I can't stay near you. I can't look at you every single day and feel okay with myself. Because you make me hate what I am and this is too much, even for a son of Hades. That's why I'm running away. I'm running away from you, Percy. There, now you know the truth."

Percy found himself trying to come up with ways to express what he was feeling and failing miserably at it. He never thought a bunch of words could hurt him that way, but there he was; facing Nico, with no clue about what to do, and his chests aching thanks to what the other boy had just said. He was the reason why Nico was leaving? How was that even possible? And why did Nico hate himself? Gods, his thoughts were a complete mess.

"I don't understand" he mumbled quietly.

And perhaps Percy had never said something so sincere before. Because he did not understand indeed. Or did part of him got the meaning of Nico's words and refused believing on whatever he had concluded?

Nico sighed heavily, a sound more like a sob than anything else, and Percy saw the first tears streaming down his pale cheeks. That sight was so weird and yet, made Percy's heart ache.

"I like you Percy" Nico admitted, his voice cracking full of sorrow "I like you as I never liked anyone before and in a way I'm not supposed to. I like you in a way that's not natural, but I still can't help it. I just wanted to be an ordinary guy, but I'm not. I'm a son of Hades and, to make it worse, you make me feel things I shouldn't. I need to stay away from you."

His heart pounded on his chest, so hard that Percy feared it would break his ribcage and fall on the ground right in front of them. His brain tried to process everything was happening around him.

The other campers stared at them with wide eyes, most of them dumbfounded by what Nico had just said, others asking their friends what the son of Hades had truly meant, because they were sure they had got it wrong.

Percy blinked once, twice, three times, but no sound came out of his mouth. Nico crossed the grass, coming face to face with Percy at last, mere inches separating them. He looked at the older boy with confidence, although his eyes where slightly red and tears still dried on his now flushed cheeks.

For some seconds, Percy thought Nico would punch him again. Actually, when the son of Hades approached the older demigod, everyone around them thought that there would be another fight. Jason and Leo were ready to interfere and everybody looked apprehensive.

The punch never came, though. There was no other fight. And without looking away a single time, Nico did the last thing the whole camp thought he would. His hands clasped the front of Percy's bright orange t-shirt and, getting on his tip-toes, Nico kissed him.

And Percy's mind, that until that moment was working frantically to keep up with everything that was happening, suddenly was blank. He couldn't think of anything in particular. The pain he once felt was gone, all the confusion and hurt were replaced by the unique and indescribable feeling of Nico's lips on his.

At the age of eighteen, Percy had already kissed his share of girls (and he had to admit, boys too). First there was Annabeth, but after the two of them broke up there had been others. But none of them had such a strong effect on him as Nico; none of them made his knees weak as it was right now. His lips were soft and warm, although a little shy and inexperienced.

His initial shock was gone, as soon as the son of Poseidon felt the other boy starting to pull away. Giving a shit about everyone who watched them (because no, Percy did not forget there were lots of campers watching that unexpected scene), Percy tangled his hand on Nico's soft black locks and, holding the boy firmly by the back of his neck, he brought their lips back together; this time in a hard, urgent kiss.

And gods, how good was to feel Nico this close to him. His world on that moment was resumed on the son of Hades on his arms. Nico was everything Percy could feel, touch, taste, smell and he didn't mind that at all. Shy and uncertain hands rested on his shoulders, while their bodies molded together just the right way, as if they were made for it and belonged together.

"WOOOW! LIVE PORN!"

Travis Stoll's loud voice was heard on the hill, breaking all the magic of the moment. Of course, just after that they also heard him cry out in pain, probably because some other camper had hit the son of Hermes for being so oblivious, but the moment was already gone.

Nico broke the kiss, but his hands still rested on Percy's shoulders, while he tried to catch his breath. All the certainty his dark eyes showed a while ago replaced by a genuinely doubtful expression. It looked like Nico was begging for an explanation, even though his mouth was still closed, his lips a thin line.

"Come one guys, back to camp" Jason said bossy "The show is over."

And with his friend's help, the son of Jupiter led the other campers out of the hill.

"Percy, Nico, I want to talk to you later" Chiron told them on a serious voice "Go to the Big House after dinner. I'll be waiting you two."

His gaze left no chance for arguing, so the two demigods just nodded. Chiron then followed the campers up the hill, as well as their friends. Leo still stopped next to Thalia's tree and gave them a thumbs up, before running back to camp.

That's how, after such a mess, they found themselves alone once more. Nico had his hands resting on Percy's chest now, on a half embrace, and realizing that he let go of the boy quickly. The gesture hurt Percy a little, even knowing that was more a reflex than anything.

"No, no, don't do this, Nico" he pleaded, holding the younger's arm and bringing him closer again "Don't be like that with me again. We need to talk."

Nico looked at him sheepishly, blushing bright red. Now that everybody was gone and they were alone again, the reality of what he had done just minutes ago made him unease. Gods, what the fuck was he thinking to kiss Percy that way? Nico bit his lower lip, anxiously.

"Sooo, you like me, hum!?" Percy stated, smiling that gorgeous smile of his.

Those words just made Nico blush even more.

"Yeah… looks like I do" he mumbled, looking away.

"Great, then this means you're going to drop this insane idea of leaving camp. Long distance relationships hardly work, you know!?"

Nico's surprised face was almost comical.

"You mean it?" he asked, as soon as he found his voice again.

Percy's words sound so surreal. He needed to be sure, he needed to know he was not just imagining things again.

"Very much" Percy replied sincerely "I don't want you to leave, Nico. Not after what you said. I think… I think I like you too."

Nico's lips curled into a small smile and, when Percy pulled him on a new embrace, resting their foreheads together, Nico found himself looking straight into those gorgeous sea green eyes.

"Don't leave" Percy pleaded again, in a whisper.

"Okay"

And wasting no more time, Nico ended the gap between them with a kiss. They still had lots to talk about, things had to be cleared up, feelings had to be discovered and, if a relationship was coming, they would have to work hard to make it work. They knew it and were willing to accept this new challenge.

When they broke apart, both with extremely satisfied expressions plastered on their blushing faces, Percy intertwined their fingers and lead Nico back up the hill.

"Let's go home."

**_~FINIS_**

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Reviews are highly appreciated. :)

_**Julie Anna Tennant**_


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